Bava Metzia 78A

מפני רעתה.

due to its poor quality. In other words, he was eager to sell not due to financial pressure, but because he wanted to get rid of this low-value field. His persistent demands for every last dinar are due to his fear that the buyer will change his mind and cancel the transaction.

פשיטא: בעי לזבוני במאה ולא אשכח, וזבין במאתים, וקא עייל ונפיק אזוזי ⁠– לא קני. אלא אי בעי לזבוני במאה ולא אשכח, ואי טרח הוה משכח, ולא טרח וזבין במאתים, וקא עייל ונפיק אזוזי ⁠– מאי: כמוכר שדהו מפני רעתה דמי, או לא? תיקו.

The Talmud discusses a similar case. It is obvious that if one wants to sell his property for 100 dinars but does not find a buyer, and in actuality he sells property for 200, and goes in and goes out for money, the buyer has not acquired the field, as it is clear that the seller performed the transaction due to financial straits. But if he wants to sell his property for 100 and does not find a willing buyer, and the case was that if he troubled himself he would find one, and instead he did not trouble himself and sells property for 200, and then he goes in and goes out for money, what is the halakha? Is he considered like one who sells a field due to its poor quality or not? No answer was found, and therefore the Talmud states that this dilemma should stand unresolved.

שכר את החמר ואת הקדר וכו׳ שוכר עליהן או מטען. עד כמה שוכר עליהן? אמר רב נחמן: עד כדי שכרן.

§ The Mishnah teaches that if one hired a donkey driver or a potter and they reneged, and the goods would be lost, he may hire other workers at a higher price at the former’s expense, or deceive them to make them agree to return to work. The Talmud asks: Up to what amount may he hire at their expense? Rav Naḥman said: Up to their wages, i.e., if the first workers did part of the work and the employer had not yet paid them, he may add the amount he owes the original workers to the new workers’ wage.